Viral video: Amazing iPad 3 concept includes 3D holograms

While the Apple rumor mill churns endlessly with chatter about iOS 6 and the iPad 3 retina display, Aatma Studio Animation created a concept video of an outrageously advanced iPad 3 design. Located within San Francisco, the company specializes in 3D animation and digital content for television, movies and advertising agencies. Published just three days ago, the iPad 3 concept video has already garnered approximately 1.7 million views on YouTube. While obviously a fake product created almost entirely out of CGI effects, the finished concept video is amazing to watch in motion.

Within the concept video, Aatma Studio shows a man opening up the display of the iPad 3 to reveal an edge-to-edge retina display. Rather than leaving an edge to grasp on the outside of the iPad 3, the mock-up in the video uses the full front face of the device to display the apps, photos, videos and games. The concept video also shows off a idea that allows users to physically connect two iPad 3 screens using internal magnets and digitally connect the devices using near-field communication (NFC) technology. This creates a dual-screen effect that potentially doubles the screen size for watching widescreen movies or simply creating a larger screen for multiplayer gaming.

Easily the most advanced concept displayed within the video, the final addition shows two people using the connected iPad 3 tablets to play a quick game of professional football. Using hologram controls projected on a flat surface to the left and the right of the tablets, the concept would allows two players to tap and move virtual buttons on the table in order to control the players on the screen like a standard game controller. When the camera pans around to the angle of the player, the iPad mock-up shows a 3D projection of the football player sprinting down the field for a touchdown.

Aatma Studio is also responsible for creating another extremely popular Apple related video last year. Racking up over 46 million views on YouTube in the past six months, the iPhone 5 concept video shows off another CGI mock-up of Apple hardware. The almost paper-thin iPhone 5 concept includes a laser keyboard projected on a flat surface for typing texts and email. In addition, the user can change the size of the keyboard by pinching the corners as well as raise and lower the brightness level of the virtual keys. Another feature on the concept iPhone includes the ability to create a holographic display of the video or photos currently being displayed on the iPhone 5 screen.

While these concepts are fun to watch, some of the features could potentially be integrated into handheld devices over the next five to ten years. In regards to features that are likely headed to Apple devices during 2012, Ars Technica confirmed that iPads using iOS 6 are being used by Apple employees on the Cupertino campus according to internal server logs. While it’s unlikely that Apple will release a new version of iOS during the Apple conference next week or with the release of the next iPad, it is likely that Apple will preview upcoming features in the next major release of the mobile operating system.

Ars Technica also looked into Google Analytics to discover that the site had over 350 visits from devices using 2048 by 1536 resolution. This is the resolution rumored to be used for the retina display within the iPad 3, but it’s also the native resolution for a 21.3″ NEC LCD monitor that’s used by professionals in the medical field. While the NEC monitor sports a $5,000 price tag on Newegg, the iPad 3 is rumored to be priced between $579 to $899 according to MacRumors.